Starring:
Amani, Hiei, Hiroyasu, Hel (emitter)
Date: July 7, 2013
Summary:
A secret meeting of some members of Team Ogosokamaru with Amani to discuss a recent mission, and the facts surrounding a KRD finance officer. The meeting is abruptly interrupted by a horde of Yakuza goons who treat them to a brutality and sense of loss they had not seen before.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Kumo Daimyo Plot - The Perfect Recipe for Rice with just a dash of disaster"
Murakumo Apartment Complex
It's early afternoon, about 11ish, The skies are clear; a sea of crisp, pale blue, with not a single cloud in sight. The air is pleasantly cool for the time of year. The apartment is clean, immaculate, smelling as fresh as a summer field. From this alone, you can easily guess that Misaki has not been home for a day or two. A fresh sack of vegetables and meat sit on the counter properly organized, and spotless.
"Here's you tea, Yotsuki-san" Hiroyasu slides a simple earth colored cup to the young white haired test subject, "I invited Yamayuki-san over for that cooking lesson." he points at him "You will eat whatever she cooks, I don't care if it smells like yesterday's ramen or tastes like your sandal.. You will eat it.. you will compliment her.. or you will die a slow death that you never saw coming.. Slow ,painful and ~sterile~ death" he emphasizes that last part running a finger across his neck. "She will be here in a few minutes.." turning to double check what was placed out for this odd training.
Hiei is sitting on a pillow around a small table. "Arigato." He says when the tea is served. When Hiroyasu threatens a most horrible and slow death if he doesn't compliment Amani on her cooking, he smirks. "Aha. So..all those times you teased me about Misaki…now you've been caught up in the kunoichi genjutsu as well. Heh. It's about time. I was beginning to wonder." He waves a hand. "Don't worry about me. I'm the guy that will eat just about anything. I got a cast-iron stomach. It's going to have to be pretty bad for me to have a reaction to it. And even if I do, I'll be sure to be courteous and to compliment your girlfriend at every turn." He chuckles before taking a sip of his tea. "I may be a barbarian, but I'm also a 'gentleman'." He actually uses air quotes when he says that with that smirk of his. "But seriously. I know you like this girl. I promise I won't embarrass you."
Amani was making her way to the apartment to attend the cooking lesson. She was happy to finally be learning something or other about it and hoped that it's something she could take home and continue from there. For now, she had to keep her focus on the prize of sorts. The only way she could bring it home is if she was worthy enough of doing so. That was going to be the hard part…
A knock on the door to the apartment announces her arrival before she twists the knob and peeks inside to see if it was okay for her to enter. "Hello," she greeted Hiroyasu and Hiei both before stepping inside and closing the door behind her softly. "I'm here and ready for the cooking lesson." She hadn't known that she was just recently talked about.
Hiroyasu jerks his head at Hiei and looks out the window with a shake of his and wave of his hand dismissive, "She is not my girlfriend, I am helping her learn to cook. You shouldn't tease me yotsuki-sama" there was the sama honorific, Hiei should know well what that means, then there is a knock at the door and there is the sound in his chest of his hearting dropping into his feet, "By the goat-ogre's beard" he mutters, she had heard that.. It was just a line for the KRD but that doesn't make it easy to swallow to lie to everyone even your teammates. "Yo Yamayuki-san! Come on in, have a seat" he looks at her with a pleading look of guilt "Tea?" he squeaks. Stupid loudmouth barbarian talks too much, maybe he needs a tongue reduction.
"Tea sounds nice," Amani stated as she awaited the drink. She was looking forward to it just to warm her spirits, a bit. "I'm looking forward to the cooking lesson," she offered. "I don't know what we'll be cooking, but I'm sure it'll be good."
Hiroyasu nods "I made it fresh" he says as he sets a green cup in front of her, then filling from the kettle in his hand. "I got several different kinds of vegetables and meat, It will be an experiment. I will teach you how to make proper rice first, the basis for nearly every traditional meal is rice, it is easiest to make but it is the most often overlooked thing. A good rice will make an excellent meal, poor rice will make no meal at all, it would just be something to get rid of hunger" he says looking at Hiei who is gotten quiet, before looking back at Amani "I figured we could make curry!" it's easy, tastes good, and in the winter there is nothing better.
"Oh, yes, yes. I think you said that to me before. We can learn about rice first," she nodded, though upon hearing the word 'curry', she tried to contain excitement. "Curry is always a good choice, I think. If we make it, I want it to turn out great," she wagged a finger at Hiro as if to warn him she didn't want it to turn out otherwise. "We're going to make something for everyone to enjoy."
Hiei had been silent for a few moments as Hiroyasu and Amani greeted each other. He continues to sit on the floor, just watching the two of them. Then, he remembers the look on Hiroyasu's face. And it suddenly dawns on Hiei what he was doing. He really did like Amani, but he didn't want it to be known. Understanding crosses Hiei's face but he doesn't say anything about it out loud. Instead he smiles. "Amani-san. Always good to see you. I'll be your official taste tester today. I'm sure whatever you create will be delicious."
Hiroyasu gives her a thumbs up "Alright rice, you want to make sure that you have quality rice. Running a hand through it you will fill a rocky like texture, that is immature rice, dead grains, and bits of the plant. So you want a smooth texture when shopping for it." he demonstrates how he caresses the grains before saying "The process is made best if you have a rice pot, but you can actually cook it in just about anything pot as long as you can get a good lid." with a nod "Never, ever take the lid off while it's cooking that is how so many people ruin a good pot of rice." continuing with, "First thing you want to do is rinse the rice, you put in a pot fill it water then swish the rice around until the water gets cloudy then you strain it and repeat until the water does not cloud." he pulls out a small pot, pours some rice into it, fills it with water and demonstrates.
Amani nodded at Hiei, "Thank you. I just hope that what I make doesn't turn out to give you a slow and painful death or anything," she grinned sheepishly as she turned around to face the rice as the demonstration was beginning. "So, the key to good rice is running a hand through it to check if it's smooth…" She repeated while running her hands through it, after washing them up of course. "And always have a good lid. Never take the lid off…" She spoke to herself creating a mental checklist. "Rinse rice…cloudy, straining…" She wishes she had a notebook on her, but her hearing worked well enough for it to enter memory quickly enough. Honestly, it's almost like she can't ignore sound, even if she tried.
Hiei flashes a smile at Amani as he rises to his feet swiftly. "I'm sure it'll be fine, Amani-san." He walks over to a window and looks out of it. He is aware of the conversation around him, but since Hiro is teaching her how to cook, he allows it to wash over him. His thoughts are centered around other issues. Fleetingly, he tries to spot the KRD tail that he knows is out there somewhere. Possibly two, since he and Hiro both have someone following them at all times. He murmurs, "You'd think they had better things to do than follow three teenagers."
Hiroyasu nods "I'll make sure to write it down for you " he says when he notices that she is repeating the steps under her breath, "Now that we have removed the negative starches from the rice, this is a secret" he says raising a finger, "you put it in the pot, fill it with water and let it set for 20 minutes. Letting the rice settle and stabilize will make for a perfect balanced cook. I like to think the rice needs some quiet reflection and meditation." He pours his strained rice into the rice pot, offering her to the do the same. "Now the fun part, we can sit down have some tea and talk while it meditates." with Hiei in the window he has a block against being seen, he leans over to Amani really close "Can you do that thing you did went we went hunting.. you silent sound, so we can talk in private?" he whispers before breaking off to put another helping of strained rice into the pot.
"Okay, that makes things much easier. I think even though I could remember it on my own, I'm nervous, so I might forget," Amani sighed a bit in relief. She went silent as she listened in on what made the rice perfect. It looks like from its early stages up to cooking, it has to be handled a certain way or else it'll end up terrible. Must take extra care not to screw up rice on any part of preparation. At the offer to pour the rice in, she adds in some rice as well. "I think I'd like to sit down now. Else, I'd be sitting here and watching the pot, waiting for it to boil," she admitted prior to raising up the sound barrier around the table. "Ready to go," she stated with a smile.
Hiei crosses his arms over his chest while continuing to look out of the window. He exhales softly before moving away and returning to his seat on the cushion on the floor. He picks up his tea from earlier and takes a sip. He wasn't paying attention when Hiro asked Amani to raise the sound barrier. He leans against the wall and listens to more talk about rice. Since he didn't cook and had servants to do so for him, Hiei didn't have a use for Hiro's rice recipe. Though maybe picking up another hobby might not be a bad idea. There are some advantages in learning to cook for himself. "You don't give yourself enough credit, Amani-san." Speaking out loud and breaking his self-imposed silence.
Hiroyasu can see her speak, but not hear her as he moves from the counter to the table bringing a tea pot and some simple tea biscuits "Well we can enjoy some tea and snacks while we wait" he says more for the benefit of their stalkers before entering the field and sitting down. "Yotsuki-san, Amani is able to create a sphere of silence, nothing we say can be detected by the outside. We can still be seen but he cannot be heard." he looks between them "This meeting was arranged so we can discuss the KRD, and our target.. Also I need to apologize to you Yamayuki-san for involving you." he says offering to pour them some tea.
"Yeah, I don't really give myself much credit…" Amani grinned as she made her way over to the table and within the sound bubble she created. She was really interested in the tea and potential food, but with all else going on, she tried to play it up with the rest of them. "I'm not bothered for being involved. I'd much rather know than be on the outside and know nothing. I did have to meet with the KRD when I came back from Kirigakure. I'm surprised they let me go after the interrogation…" The memory still brings up bad feelings for her, but why not? It did happen not too long ago. Still, she wishes to steel her resolve against them and fight back. This was the best way to do so.
Hiei leans forward and props his elbows on the table as he looks into his tea cup. "I'm aware of this ability." He replies to Hiro when he explains what Amani has just done. He's seen it a couple times now at least. He looks between the two of them. "I wasn't able to find out where he lived..at least not by following him. By the time Sensei and I lost our KRD tail, he had gone into the library." He looks at Amani. "We had hoped to keep you out of this. We have no idea how this will end. We could all die, or be thrown into a dark hole to never be seen again. You should know the stakes if we fail in finding out what the village elders are planning."
Hiroyasu nods "Well this is what we learned, On paper this guy is pretty clean. Respectable businessman, humble land owner, nothing striking. But he's been cooking the books financially. He has been funneling funds, now whether it's to himself or to the benefit of the KRD. I don't know but that is what he was doing at the library, altering finance ledgers." he looks to Amani "I didn't want them to hurt you again, or use you as a pawn in their dirty dealings." he says to her.
Amani nodded. She supposes she'd just have to accept those odds, but she doesn't plan on dying or anything of the sort. She is a medic. Her job is to heal, sometimes in more ways than one. "It's okay…I understand what we're up against. We're fighting a beast, but I feel we can best it. We just don't have the right tools, yet," she explained. "One thing I know for certain, though. The guy in the library, he sounded…scared," she spoke up. "For someone that worked for the KRD, he was fearful, even though his face didn't show it. His voice did. I could both hear it and see it. I still had my nejigan activated at the time…"
Hiei nods. "I advise caution, Amani. They know they can get to me through Misaki. I don't want to see that happen with you two." He is quiet as they both share what they learned in the library. "If he's cooking the books, and funneling money…could he be doing this on the order of the elders? Or on the order of the KRD commander without the elders' knowledge?" He sighs. "There's still so much we don't know." He frowns. "And Sensei knows more but he's not talking. For our own good." He snorts. "..right."
Hiroyasu nods "Well you did approach him in the middle of his misdeeds, was this before or after that?" to Hiei he shrugs "Don't know, the modifications I saw were beneficial to the KRD. You think they may have some kind of sway over him, forcing him to slush their funds for some unseen preparation.." he shakes his hand and pours a cup of tea, putting on a visual charade "Or do you think he is a willing participant? I know we don't know the answer but we need to consider the possibilities. Right now we know hardly anything because it's protecting it except it's just leaving us defenseless against an enemy we won't see coming.. " he looks to the side "Not Sensei's best decision. So we can't rely on him to do this." He looks at Hiei "We also need to talk, you have been boasting and revealing too information about everything. You almost twice today led them to believe that Yamayuki-san and myself might be together. Then there was that ridiculous soliloquy against that Yotsuki traitor, you need to stop shooting off at the mouth as if they are punches, they aren't.. they are hurting our position" he pleads.
"I don't want that to happen. I know I don't, but I don't see what other choices I have unless I take risks to get there. Many things in life are like performing surgery. Delicate, time consuming, risky, requiring focus, knowledge and dedication. I have all these things and I want to use them to bleed out the KRD. If they want a surgery from me, they've got it. They've threatened me once and by extension my family. I can't let them break me now," she shook her head. "Even if there isn't much we don't know, I think we should keep a lookout for that guy. I think we might have the chance to talk to him at some point. I know he's scared. He talked with me a little bit. I would hope my ears didn't betray me, much less my jutsu," she took her cup and lifted it to drink the tea inside.
"I think I can take a trip to the administration office to see what I can pick up. Listen to the voices. I don't need anything specific, I just need to know the differences in them. I may be able to determine intents and feelings that way. It's hard to betray the body, no matter how trained you are."
"And the great Hiroyasu finds fault with something I've done…yet again. The Yotsuki traitor is my business, and I'll handle it any way I see fit." Hiei replies in an even voice. "As far as the other stuff goes, well you may have a point. And we don't have a position to hurt. You really don't understand anything about me, my thought processes, my feelings. You concentrate so much on the fact that you're intellectually smarter than me that you're starting to feel superior. I defer to you on most things because you /are/ smarter. But when it comes to clan business, your best option is to stay the shrimp out of my way." He takes a sip of tea. "With that out of the way, I want to approach him directly and put him to the question. But I'm sure there are a million reasons why it can't be that simple. The KRD could be threatening his family..anything. We know they'll do it, they've done it to us already." He pauses again to look directly at Amani. "You realize you've been seen with us now. Walking into the administration building could be hazardous for you. Are you willing to take that risk?"
Hiroyasu says "Shut up Hiei, This isn't a contest, there is no winning. I'm telling you that if you continue you will get /us/ killed.. You understand that, not you /us/. You are a member of team, our team but you are no better than Sensei with that, ~What I do is my own business so stay out…~ How is that working out for us, is that something you want to repeat. Your not some hero in a comic book or story, you don't -tell- the enemy your plans, your aspirations, or you thoughts. You either draw your weapon and fight, or you can invite him to dinner. You want to make this about intelligence but it isn't, you will get us killed because you arm the enemy with what they need. No one knows us, what we do, what we think, or what our group stands for, but you will tell them all for nothing more than a boast when your swinging your sword. So you need to stop pretending to be some lone hero swinging his sword for clan and country.. You need to start thinking about your team, your teammates, and help them." the conversation has veered a little but it was things best said, and not heard.
Amani sips at her tea quietly, closing her eyes to take it in and maybe even escape for a bit while Hiei and Hiroyasu argue. She really did enjoy the flavor of the tea and would like to have more, but it was made slightly bitter with them getting rustled up against one another. "Walking into the administration building can be hazardous. I know that. I may not even need to be inside it, just get a general idea of what the voices sound like inside," she explained. "If I do that, then it might help us turn the tide of things. All we'd need to do at that point is convince others to join us. The KRD is a small force compared to the majority of the village and it's shinobi. We're forgetting that there are others like us around here. We're not the only ones hoping to make a difference. If we do want to make a difference, the first thing we need to stop doing is working against each other and work together."
Hiei is silent the entire time Hiroyasu is on his rant. "You're not this team's leader. And so far, the man who is, hasn't said anything about how I contribute to it. So you can go onion yourself on that. If goading my opponent takes him off guard long enough for me to get the killing blow. That's the tactic I'll use. If being silent keeps him off guard, then I'll do that. You weren't looking into his eyes the way I was. You didn't see the fear I saw in them. If you're so worried about this team, Hiroyasu, then just keep talking. I can request to be assigned to a new one. Perhaps one where my talents are actually appreciated instead of frowned upon. I'm sure this meeting wasn't called for us to argue in front of Amani. Maybe if you weren't such a pea, 'Katayama-san', we'd already have what we need and could have put a stop to all this chicken. On /this/ team, Hiro, you are the odd man out. Misaki, Ogosokamaru, me..we're combatants. We swing our weapons, kick leek, and get the job done. If you want cloak and dagger pork, take it somewhere else." He runs a hand through his hair. "There is nothing, absolutely nothing on this planet that you can say to me that will change my mind that the Yotsuki traitor has to die. And I swear on my dead sister that if anyone or anything gets in my way, I will treat it or them just like any obstacle that I have had in my entire life. I will remove it..by any means necessary."
Hiroyasu shrugs "I think, your right. I'll go tender my request for a transfer. A strategist in a group of combatants, someone who cares more for his team then the next battle, or his honor, or health. Smartest thing you ever said, yotsuki-san." it seems Hiro has reached his limit on dealing with people who don't appreciate -anything- he does. "Once lunch is over, I'll turn it in. I'm tired of dealing with thankless combatants." He turns to Amani and "Sorry that you had to be a part of that. I think if you feel that is the best course of action you can take and have prepared yourself for it. Then I will assist you in any way I can" he says with a nod offering her more tea.
"You guys are both idiots," Amani stated bluntly. She held that word in reserve for people that she felt were truly out of their mind stupid and this was one of those times. She hadn't even used it in a while and to be truthful, it shocked her that it spilled from her lips, especially against these two. She sighed and drank more of her tea once the cup was refilled. "I don't think I need to take part in anything if this is what I'm going to deal with. Kumogakure can keep going as it is now and I'd have to be content that nothing will ever be solved. But, because I can't stand to see it that way, I feel like I have to fight. Not just against the enemies, 'cause that's already a given. I have to fight against the both of you. Both of you are wrong. Everything can't be solved with a fight just like everything can't be solved by trying to keep quiet. Both of you would be bringing dishonor to everyone with the way you're acting and thinking." She rose from her seat to go and check on the rice, but it was also to keep the flow of movement going so the KRD wouldn't be too suspicious.
"The rice is almost done," she spoke aloud. "At least, I think," she remarked. "Oh well, we'll figure that out as we keep this cooking thing going," she returned to her seat, getting right back to business. "The one thing the KRD knows how to do is act as a team. If we're breaking apart without them even doing anything, then they've pretty much won. We should just pack it up and go home right now. Not even bother with fighting in any kind of way, verbal or physical. I know we don't want to do that, though," she admitted. "It makes me sick to think I bothered associating with the both of you seeing that this is the way you guys fight," she shook her head. That statement was more of an attempt at a stab than any actual belief against them. "I hope I don't find a day where I'd have to be operating on you both, if you both manage to survive that long while breaking apart. If anything, I'll be placing you both in the grave knowing that you both accomplished nothing other than in-fighting. No legacy to be left behind."
Hiei shrugs at Hiroyasu. "Do what you want." Is his reply to Hiroyasu's notion of asking for re-assignment. When Amani speaks, Hiei shrugs at her, too. "What you want is irrelevant. I can't function on a team where my hands are tied at every turn and my every action is criticized. No, sometimes I don't make good decisions. Sometimes I get caught up in the moment. Let me ask you this, Amani. What would you do? You've apparently got an opinion, let's hear it."
Hiroyasu sits quietly being berated by Amani, it was one thing for a stupid barbarian to act stupidly but her words were sharp and to the point "I don't see this as a black and white issue, I use the right tactic for the job, if it's an assault it's an assault, if it's subterfuge it's subterfuge. I have too many tools in my arsenal to not be appreciated by a team who finds them bothersome because I won't charge right up the middle trying to cut a bloody in the most tiring, and predictable way. If I say the enemy is weak on the left, they charge the right because -they- want the challenge, If I suggest we do something it's overridden by someone just charging in half-cocked ready for action. I am sorry that you feel that way Yamayuki-san, but I am done being this teams whipping boy, servant, and medic. Let them be the glorious warriors charging into combat swords drawn and struck down. I don't care anymore." he glances at Hiei then back at Amani "You heard him, I'm the odd one out, the majority does not agree with the minority. It's always Me vs Them, because that is how they see me trying to stop them from doing what they want, assuming I do it out of some kind of lust for intellectual superiority. That is not how a team should operate, they need another combatant so they can act in the unity they want. I'll go find a support squad or maybe just go civilian. I don't know." he frowns at her stab against him "That hurts the most, Yamayuki-san. I think I should go before this gets any more toxic. I'm sorry that you have had to deal with this, and that you have had to waste on your time with us. I really am." He says standing up from the table with a stretch.
Maybe the KRD has been watching the apartment. Maybe not. It does seem likely though, especially after Hiei managed to get out of their net for a bit. There is a knock at the door. If anyone goes to physically look out the door, there is a young girl (about 4 or 5 years old) with a box of chocolates. If Hiro or Amani choose to use their other senses, then they'd notice that a small army of villagers is in the stairwell waiting, most likely for their apartment door to open.
"I do have an opinion because I feel like I'm the only one that cares. Maybe you guys don't have to deal with that sort of thing. Knowing what it's like to be alone and to have no one on your side. To see everyone pass you by and look at you with insecurity, disgust and anger. You guys have a team, building bonds. I'm envious that you all even have the ability to argue with someone. I've never had to argue with anyone, I've never had a friend to care for or to think about. I've been alone and depressed, sad, angry. All I've had to do is work in a hospital where people like you all come in often because they don't know how to agree and you know what? A lot of them died," she explained.
"Going separate ways thinking that they could do things on their own. The KRD and other people picked them off like flies, never to be heard from again. All because they can't agree. Things are cold out here and I'm not talking about the temperature. The only way you can be successful is to work together. Using all intellect and all sword isn't going to solve any problems. You have to use them together. You guys don't even combine your strengths together into one fighting force. You just sit and argue about which approach is better to take," she shook her head.
"If this was—" She paused as the door was knocked on. She activated her nejigan at this point to get a visual of who was on the other side of the wall. "Hm. You guys ready to work together? I'm going to go open this door." She rose up from her seat and made her way toward the door.
Hiei stands up and sighs while eying Amani. Fried kunoichi genjutsu. There was no defense for it. "FIINNNEEE! If that's the way you hippies want it, then fine. I concede. But don't expect any miracles. I'm not changing overnight and I would still rather beat someone up than talk them to death." He picks his harness containing his blades up off the floor and straps it on, shrugging his shoulders to adjust it. "I take it there's something not nice on the other side of the door." He looks at Hiroyasu. "You sure you wouldn't rather go out there and negotiate them into submission?" He waves a hand. "Kidding, kidding. But if you've got a plan, genius, I'm all ears."
Hiroyasu shakes his head "The plan is easy, they got us trapped, we have to muscle our way out. This is one of those times where running up the middle is the right one. We need to get to open area, I can't maneuver in here" this was pretty out of the ordinary for them to be so bold. "Ready Yamayuki-san" again they draw her into their sordid affairs, he sighs pulling some seals from his pouch.
When the door is open, the little girl looks up with all sorts of shame in her eyes. She says, "Sowwy, dey said dey'd huwt mah momma…" With that, a man comes out of the stairwell with a knife to the throat of an older lady who is crying. Most likely, that is the little girl's mother. He walks slowly toward the little girl and the now-open apartment door. Flanking the hostage and hostage holder are two larger men, and behind them another fifteen or so come pouring out of the stairwell and into the hallway. Each of them have weapons of one kind or another. The hostage holder declares, "Come out with one hand on your head and the other by your waist or I kill both the mother and the little girl." He seems to have this planned out somewhat. Do the shinobi shoot the hostages to kill the hostage holder, do they negotiate with the terrorists, or do they go for the blaze of glory (or some other fuzzy path).
"Who said I'm a hippie? I'm a huntress," she grinned and cracked her knuckles. Upon the door being flung open, she looked at the girl and then the guy who stepped in with her mother, knife at her neck. She took a few moments to think about the situation. She sighed softly and lifted her hands as if to place them on her head before she dropped to the ground and bowed with hands up in a seal, though it looked more like a pleading gesture. "Okay, okay, we'll comply. Please, don't harm her because of us…"
She opened her hands then and sent out a blast of sound toward the man holding the mother to disorient him. She then kicks herself up off the ground and sends out another sound blast to another mook to give Hiei and Hiroyasu a chance to prepare themselves to fight. Time to hunt.
Hiei frowns when they use hostages, but he doesn't say anything. If he ran off at the mouth, it might mean the little girl might get hurt. He was all set to comply when Amani beats him to it, and then manages to attack the guy holding a knife. He backs her up by flinging two shruiken, one toward the dude with the knife the other toward the mook behind the girl. Hiei then makes a beeline for the window and smoothly dives out of the second story window. It was best to be outside for what he had planned.
Hiroyasu nods "I'm not hippy either..", once the grip on the mother and child were hopefully broken, Hiro hurls a seal barrier at the mother and daughter attempting to shield them in a dome from further issues until they could take the battle outside, using innocents was on his short list of things to do if you want to find a bullet hugging your cerebellum. He flings two chakra-hardened seals at the two indoors trying to further exacerbate their situation.
As soon as Amani starts to drop to the ground, the man with the knife moves to slit the woman's throat. He asked for them to come out in one way. Amani did something else, even if it was a good move. By the time the sound blast hits him, as it does move fairly quickly, the hostage handler has managed to cut the woman's throat. Blood is spurting out. Whether or not he's managed to actually clip the carotid artery is a tricky question. The sound blast does make the hostage handler drop the knife and fall to the ground. Amani's second attack clears the path for Hiei to make it to the window. The right hand man drops to his knees as well and grabs his ears.
Hiei's kunai sail through the air and land right in the hostage handler's throat. Slice for slice it seems. He makes a light gurgle and goes limp against the leg of his left hand man (the mook behind the girl). The man's hand is hit as he reached for the little girl; the kunai sticking in it."
Hiroyasu's barriers properly protect the girl and her mother now…but unless someone gets to the mother and attempts to heal her, the little girl may become motherless. The chakra hardened seals get flung at the left and right hand men and neither finds their marks. The first actually catches the man's arm as he brought it up to block his face. It looks painful, but it doesn't stop the guy. The second man dodges completely. These two start off the attacks by breaking off. The right hand man with the kunai in his forearm heads for Hiei, trying to go through the window too. As he runs, he plucks the kunai from his arm and throws it at Hiei.
The left hand man with the knife in his hand pulls it out too and throws it at Amani before he tries to tackle her. The rest of the men blink, and then throw out a barrage of various kunai, shuriken, knives, etc toward everyone, including the barriers. Chaos ensues.
Amani realizes her error, but she'll work to quick to rectify it. She was forced out of her transformed state as she ran out of the chakra to maintain it, but she did manage to dodge the thrown knife and tackle. There was an object that struck her. She looked at it momentarily before yanking it out and returning the knife back to the enemies. It may not be the one that threw it, but someone was going to suffer. "You made a mistake," she stated as she could see the woman bleeding out, picking up on all the sounds. "You were supposed to follow /my/ lead."
Someone is going to suffer under her hands and it's going to be the one that cut her. She made her way over to the guy, slumped over after taking cuts to his neck. She started with medium healing and began to get his neck back together and followed it up with wound sealing bandages to ensure that the treatment was a success. He wasn't out of the woods yet, however. "You're going to suffer for what you did. I'm telling you now so you can anticipate it. Do you really know what a cut throat feels like? I don't think you do. I think you should experience this pain again so you'll understand what that pain is like. You are my hostage now," she spoke to the man while drawing out a kunai.
Hiei hits the ground and rolls to absorb the shock of leaping out of the second story window. He rolls along the ground, the shruiken missing him as he continues rolling until he rolls up to his feet. Hiei takes a moment to look at his attacker. Now is the moment where he would talk a little trash, try to goad the guy off his game. But not this time. In his mind's eye he sees the throat of the woman get cut. That wasn't what bothered him, though. It was the look of absolute terror on the little girl's face as she watched it. A calm settles over Hiei, one like he's never felt before. He felt a cold detachment as he begins to make hand-seals and his voice is dry as he states. "Release: Lightning Aura." A column of blue chakra surrounds his body with bolts of lightning striking the ground around him. As the aura is sucked inward, Hiei's muscles bulge outward as the veins in his body become more prominent. He reaches up and draws Fukushu and Saiai slowly from their sheathes. Hiei couldn't forgive this. Even if Ogosokamaru himself stepped in right now and told Hiei to stand down, he'd disobey his Sensei. Without a word, he takes a step forward before his body blurs from sight. After attacking once, he stops just past the yakuza's body to pivot and bring both swords to bear as he attempts to cleave him in two.
There is a look of shock, and hated on Hiroyasu's face when sees the knife do it's terrible deed, "NO! NO! NO!" he says but there was nothing to stop it, his barrier only arrives in time to protect them from the onslaught of kunai, but himself well that is another story entirely. He brings his fingers together and two Cloneyasu's appear in front of him taking the brunt of several kunai and shuriken, But there too many and he releases a seal which swirls spray chakra outward into a tower shield many of the kunai bounce off of it before the barrage cracks the blue aura, then chips, until it shatters with the remaining kunai peppering Hiro many bouncing off his armor mesh under his koromo leaving whelps and bruises but hand he raised to shield his face finds a kunai right in his palm.
Blood trickling down his arm ,dripping on his favorite rug no less, he didn't have time, not enough time at all to give this the proper insult and curse it deserved. He charges forward hand gripping hand as he approaches the woman and the young child "don't worry, help is here, help is here" he mutters clapping his hands together sending a mist of fine blood from his wound, it was already clotting as it should, but his hands begin to glow green and he grasps at the blood wound on her neck, holding it gently while he attempts to save the young woman's life.
Amani's doing surgery on the boss-man right in the middle of the fight. The lackeys are all primed to throw more shtuff at her, but, well, she's helping their boss. They hold off until she speaks again, which is when they all realize that she's only helping so that she can torture him some more. A handful of the men jump onto her, trying their best to grab ahold of whatever they can in order to rip her off their boss.
The right hand man (RHM) that ran after Hiei and jumped through the window too made a somewhat clunkier landing since he didn't tuck and roll overly quickly. If Hiei isn't going to say something, then the right hand man takes that time-slot, "Oooh, lightnin', scary." Making fun of that which scares us gives it less power over us…says Lupin. The RHM rolls to the side, and again it is clunky. The flash strike cuts his gut. While he tries to deal with the pain and urges himself to leap backward, Hiei is just too fast. The blades cut the man's torso cleanly in two. RHM stands for a moment before his upper body slides away from his lower body and falls with a squishy sound on the ground.
Hiroyasu gets to the woman quickly enough. The little girl grabs for his arm, tears in her eyes, as she screams, "Sayve hur, sayve hur!" Hiroyasu's green hands wrap around the throat, but the knife wound is too jagged. The knife rests on the ground next to the woman's body and it is indeed a serrated knife. The tissues of her throat just won't mend together if they are this mangled. She bleeds out quickly in Hiro's arms; her body spasming and contorting. She even makes a death-rattle with bloody teeth chattering together. It is not a pretty sight. And, just as the spirit departs the body, Amani speaks and the lackeys attack her…and Hiroyasu with the little girl.
Hiei can see the others up above pause as they waited to determine what was happening to their boss. When everyone starts attacking again, a few look out the window, pointing. They don't quite attack yet, they are just determining if they should be dumb enough to jump out the window or take the stairs. They decide to take the stairs. Hiei can perhaps set a trap for them below.
Amani is ripped clear away from the boss just as she started to attack him and let him feel the pain of having his throat cut. Her response to it wasn't pleasant and seeing the girl crying about her mother to Hiroyasu to save her lets her know her time was spent on the wrong thing, but instead feeling the need to rescue the mother, her anger extends further to the boss man that she was attacking. In order to prevent the lackeys from interfering with her anymore, she performed soothing touch on the men that wrapped themselves around her to incapacitate them and ran forward to the boss to attack him once more, picking up her kunai from where she left it and driving it into his neck before cutting it full circle. His neck would be bleeding out from all sides now and his blood would coat him like a velvet sash, soon to be a cloak.
Her focus was drawing from healing entirely and now her mind told her to attack anything that brought this upon her. The lackeys that attacked her would be the next in line that would suffer her wrath as she made a note to stun them with sound blasts so they wouldn't escape. The same kunai she used to take out the boss would be used on them. There was rage burning in her eyes or at least, that's what they thought. Her eyes weren't exactly normal right now. Spiraling arms coming out from the center of her eyes? Those couldn't be normal, right? No, not really. They revealed sound to her and sound told her that they were frightened and somehow, this managed to entice her.
There was no hiding that sort of fear, the brisk thumping of the heart, uneven breathing. All of that just…needed to be quiet.
Hiei didn't have a trap planned. He wasn't going to lay a trap. Everyone who came down the stairs were going to die. There was no mercy in his heart right now. He takes the time to sheathe his short blade, Saiai. Making a hand seal, he brings his closed fist down by his side. When the first person comes down the stairs, Hiei strikes with his sword after flipping it to the serrated side. He does it on several people before shooting that fist forward, attempting to catch them in the blast. "Ninja Art: Lightning Shotgun!" The blade glows with chakra as it's name is lit up on the side when energy fills it. He brings it around in a wide arc, slashing at the next in line. "You're all going to die." He says in almost a whisper, that blank look still on his face.
In his hands, he can feel the life slowly fade as the blood rushing from the jagged wound gurgles and bubbles. No matter how hard to he tries, it's just a gut wrenching knot which tears at him as he can feel her struggle to breathe, struggle to move, the pain storming in her eyes as the tears stream down her cheek, the pleading look reflected in her dulling eyes as he can see her daughter reflected in them. Time was against him, and fate had conspired so cruelly to give him the potential, yet rip away any shred of a chance from him when it would be of use.
The sounds of the battle were raging behind him, only vaguely reminiscent over the sound of roar filling his ears, Amani was there, the sound of a lightning shotgun raging outside, inside him a battle was raging as the usually calm sea becomes a raging churn beast, when the goons charge at him and the girl while he is cradling the empty vessel of a person. A kunai gripped in a hand comes down on the medic, he raises a hand the once green aura burns away being engulfed by a blue glow which tears across the back of his palm, a seal array pulses into exists on the back of his hand, pulsing brighter, clearer, until a wisp of chakra breaks from his palm zipping through the air before exploding into a chakra barrier stopping the knife cold.
Hiroyasu slowly turns his head looking at the goons, his the outside of his eyes being consumed by in inky darkness, "Enough, I don't care about the house, the rug, or any of that. You will leave, you will go, you will know, that I will come for you in your nightmares, when you sit alone I will come to you. I will end you" the inky blackness in his eyes reacts to the flush of emotion consuming his eyes completely before a thin circle of white forms a circle, small letters burning into shadowy black. The wisps of chakra begin flying from his hand, the seal swirling on the back of his palm changing form, when the wisps of chakra hit the wall and floor near the goons the chakra-suction-seals deposit begin draining them forcefully dry in what is best described as beastly.
Was silence a sound? Yes, a sweet one. Instead of giving the attackers the opportunity to hear their voices, she decided to close them within a bubble of sound so that their deaths would be quiet. All the pain of death and yet, no sound to complement it. Silent torment. The young girl is overwhelmed by what's taking place in this home, uncertain of who was friend and who was foe, but she was too distraught to leave her mother's side in the midst of it all. All she could do was lament over her death and her passing here, having been forced to do this to her or so she felt. This was her fault, even if the reality is that it wasn't. Amani, having killed the men and given them sashes much like their boss dropped her kunai as the cries entered her mind.
It took a few moments for her to register and come down from the high she felt from these men's destruction, but much of what she's done has been replaced with sorrow of her own. All the emotion that was held back beneath her rage was rising from the deep and pouring out from her eyes. She wandered over to the young girl and her mother, looking upon her knowing that this was her fault that she did this. Her mother died because of what she did. She placed her hands upon the girl only to retract them to see how bloody they were. It was a sight to fear, feeling as if she just marked her with blood.
But there's something to be said about the sympathy of a child. Despite lamenting her mother, she tries to take time out to comfort Amani as well, showing strength despite all that's taking place around here. The medic almost wanted to envy the girl, but there was no room for that. She glanced at the mother and then back to the girl before finally breaking down in the child's arms.
The medic continued to cry while the girl attempted to care for her and lament for her mother. There was a selfishness that came associated with this act and she rectified it by controlling herself and narrowing her cries into a sob and soon, nothing. She looked toward Hiei as he came in and spoke, then to Hiroyasu. "You…." She sniffed. "You're…you're different…Is…" She tried to inquire, but nothing came out. "Is this what…what…Is this what caused your wounds?" She questioned of him. She directed her attention over to the wall where the men he attacked appeared to have their life sapped from them.
By the time that it was over for Hiei, he stands in the doorway of Hiroyasu's apartment. He is still glowing bright blue with lightning crackling around his body. Both swords are bloody and so are Hiei's clothes, but there was still that dead expression on his face. He looks down at Amani and the little girl and then over at Hiro. He pauses as he looks at his eyes and the expression on his face. It looked like the sleeper had finally awakened. Hiro has experienced rage. "These men are Yakuza." Having seen their like before when dealing with another case in the area. "They had no reason to attack us here." His voice is still dry as he looks at Hiroyasu. "You know who is behind this." Then, he turns to walk out, heading for home. The transformation is released, but he keeps the swords in his hands. It would take him awhile to get over this one.
When Amani comments about his hands, Hiroyasu looks down at them, in his current condition he can see more, and more clearly. "I guess so, but this time. There are no marks, no pain, it just feels right.. no that's not quite right it feels good" he watches as the two yakuza caught in his chakra suction fall to the ground, "My eye's hurt too is there something wrong with them? I feel like I am seeing more, it's hard to focus with it all pouring in." He moves over to the Yakuza, they were lucky that it only stunned them. "Look away" he pleads before holding out his hands, he makes several seals with his fingers the movements hypnotic and smooth before shards of the broken wall and chipped floor swirl around his hands, he extends two fingers and executes them both with a hollow spike of rock shot from his fingertips. "The Yakuza, How did they find us" he says looking at Amani , then the girl comes into focus, in his rage he had tuned her out. "We need to get her out of here" he says.
"I…understand exactly how you feel," Amani states, pointing out her own eyes and her dojutsu. She could tell there was a difference in him. It showed not just physically, but the sound his body has in the change is different as well. When told to look away, she turns her head and that of the girl as well when he kills the Yakuza men. She made it a note to completely silence the act by cloaking Hiroyasu and the men in the sound barrier so it wouldn't be heard. When it was finished, she replied, "I'll get her out of here. Hiei already took care of the others. She turned and looked at the girl, continuing with, "Please…please be brave and strong. I know…I know what happened here is difficult to endure and I won't even try to prevent you your right to cry, but I have to beg you to be strong for your mother and carry on her legacy. I will help you in the best way I can…" Because I'm responsible. The girl had tears draw up into her eyes once more, but she nodded in understanding before they took off out of the apartment and someplace safe. She kept to alleyways as no one should have to see a bloody medic and child together.
